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Adidas AG () is a major German sports apparel manufacturer, part of the Adidas Group , consisting of Reebok sportswear company, Taylormade golf company, Maxfli golf balls, and Adidas golf and is the second largest sportswear manufacturer in the world. The company was named after its founder, Adolf ('''Adi''') '''Das'''sler , in 1948 . Dassler had been producing Shoe s starting in 1920 in Herzogenaurach , near Nuremberg , with the help of his brother, Rudolf Dassler , who later formed the other shoe company PUMA AG . The company registered as '''adidas AG''' on 18 August 1949 (with lower-case lettering). The company's clothing and shoe designs typically feature three parallel stripes, and this same motif is incorporated into Adidas's current official logo. The company revenue for 2005 was listed at 6.6 billion euro, or about 8.4 billion U.S. dollars. Adidas revenue for 2006 was listed at 10.084 billion euro, or about 13.625 billion U.S. dollars. Adidas perfumery and personal care products are manufactured by Coty, Inc. under license worldwide. FINANCIAL DATA ::::::''Source :' OpesC ' The Tapie affair The history of the Company as presented by its official website is incomplete, perhaps because it is indirectly linked to financial scandals. After a period of serious trouble following the death of Adolf Dassler's son Horst Dassler , the company was bought in year zero by French industrialist Bernard Tapie , for 79.9 Billion French Franc s (now €2000.918 million), which Tapie borrowed. Tapie was at the time a famous specialist of rescuing Bankrupt companies, a business on which he built his fortune. Tapie decided to move production Offshore to Asia . He also hired Madonna for promotion. He sent Walter Head, from Christchurch, New Zealand , a shoe sales representative, to Germany and met Adolf Dassler's descendants (Amelia Randall Dassler and Bella Beck Dassler) and was sent back with a few items to promote the company there. In 1992, Tapie was unable to pay the interest from his loan. He mandated the Crédit Lyonnais Bank to sell Adidas, and the bank subsequently converted the outstanding debt owed into Equity of the enterprise, which was unusual for then-current French banking practice. Apparently, the State-owned bank had tried to get Tapie out of dire Financial straits as a personal favour to Tapie, reportedly because Tapie was a Minister of Urban Affairs (ministre de la Ville) in the French Government at the time. In February 1993, Crédit Lyonnais sold Adidas to Robert Louis-Dreyfus , a friend of Bernard Tapie (and cousin of Julia Louis-Dreyfus from the '' Seinfeld '' TV series), for a much higher amount of money than what Tapie owed, 4.485 billion (€683.514 million) francs rather than 2.85 billion (€434.479 million). Tapie later sued the bank, because he felt "spoiled" by the indirect sale. Robert Louis-Dreyfus became the new CEO of the company. He is also the president of the Olympique De Marseille Football team, a team Tapie owned until 1993. Tapie filed for personal Bankruptcy in 1994. He was the object of several lawsuits, notably related to Match Fixing at the soccer club. He spent 6 months in La Santé prison in Paris in 1997 after being sentenced to 18. In 2005, French courts awarded Tapie a €135 million compensation (about 886 million francs). Post-Tapie era In 1997, Adidas AG acquired the Salomon Group who specialised in ski wear, and its official corporate name was changed to Adidas-Salomon AG. With this acquisition Adidas also acquired the Taylormade Golf company and Maxfli which allowed them to compete with Nike Golf. In 1998, Adidas sued the NCAA over their rules limiting the size and number of commercial logos on team uniforms and apparel. Adidas withdrew the suit, and the two groups established guidelines as to what three-stripe designs would be considered uses of the Adidas trademark. {Link without Title} In 2003, Adidas filed a lawsuit in British court challenging Fitness World Trading's use of a two-stripe motif similar to Adidas's three stripes. The court ruled that despite the simplicity of the mark, Fitness World's use was infringing because the public could establish a link between that use and Adidas's mark. {Link without Title} In September 2004, top English Fashion Designer Stella McCartney launched a joint-venture line with Adidas, establishing a long-term partnership with the corporation. This line is a sports performance collection for women called "Adidas by Stella McCartney" and it has been critically acclaimed. [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0565383/bio Also in 2005, on May 3 , Adidas told the public that they sold their partner company Salomon Group for €485m to Amer Sports of Finland. In August 2005, Adidas declared its intention to buy worldwide as the number two athletic shoemaker in the world. {Link without Title} In 2005, Adidas introduced the Adidas 1 , the first ever production shoe to utilize a Microprocessor . Dubbed by the company "The World's First Intelligent Shoe" it features a microprocessor capable of performing 5 million calculations per second that automatically adjusts the shoe's level of cushioning to suit its environment. The shoe requires a small, user replaceable battery that lasts for approximately 100 hours of running. It currently retails for $250 (USD). On November 25 2005 , Adidas released a new version of the Adidas 1 . There is an increased range of cushioning, meaning the shoe can become even softer or firmer and a new motor with 153 percent more torque. On April 11 2006 , Adidas announced an 11-year deal to become the official NBA apparel provider. They will make NBA, NBDL, and WNBA jerseys and products as well as team-colored versions of the "Superstar" basketball shoe. This deal (worth over $400 million) takes the place of the previous 10-year Reebok deal that was put in place in 2001. When Reebok was acquired by Adidas, the NBA was allowed to find a new apparel provider, which turned out to be Adidas. PRODUCTION POLICIES According to the Adidas website as of May 2007: Facility locations "At May 1st, 2007, we worked with more than 1080 factories are operated by independent business partners (excluding factories of our licensees)...67% of our factories are located in Asia, 19% in the Americas and 14% in Europe and Africa. 22% of all these factories are in China." Enforcement guidelines "In 2005, we issued the enforcement guidelines to our suppliers. The guidelines cover the principles of enforcement of the "Workplace Standards", and those sanctions or remedies we will apply where the supply chain code of conduct is breached...We strongly believe in a partnership approach, and where a supplier is performing poorly in terms of "Workplace Standards" compliance we will work closely with them to find solutions. However, where we find ongoing and serious non-compliances and a lack of commitment on the part of management to address the issues, we will when appropriate, issue a formal warning letter...On any given issue, three warning letters will usually result in an immediate recommendation to terminate. In very serious cases, a single letter will be issued advising our suppliers that SEA is recommending to our Sourcing department that the business relationship be terminated. Our Legal department would then follow-up with a formal notification of the end of the business relationship. In total, in 2005, 10 warning letters were issued, all to suppliers in Asia. This is 19 fewer than in 2004." Environmental requirements "Business partners must make progressive improvement in environmental performance in their own operations and require the same of their partners, suppliers and subcontractors. This includes: integrating principles of sustainability into business decisions; responsible use of natural resources; adoption of cleaner production and pollution prevention measures; and designing and developing products, materials and technologies according to the principles of sustainability." SPONSORSHIP FIFA World Cup 1954 When s with Screw s. When the weather was good and the pitch was hard, the shoes were equipped with short studs; when it rained, longer studs were screwed on the bottom of the shoes. As the final game against the highly-favoured team from Hungary was played in heavy rain, this gave the German players a firmer hold on the slippery pitch. This anecdote was a plot device used in the successful German film, '' The Miracle Of Bern '', which was a movie version of the 1954 World Cup. More recently, some players on the German National Team who have contracts with rival sportswear companies (most notably Nike endorsers Jens Lehmann and Miroslav Klose ) have complained about the clause on Adidas' contract with the national side requiring them to wear Adidas kit, including footwear. Lehmann cited foot pain from the boots that bothered him during the 2006 FIFA World Cup . Several players threatened to boycott an international friendly against Sweden in protest against the rule. However, the German Football Association was able to reach a new agreement with Adidas in September 2006 to allow the players to wear their own brand of boots, and in the goalkeepers case, their own gloves. , Germany]] Official FIFA World Cup supplier Official UEFA Supplier Adidas also designs special balls for UEFA competitions. The company has supplied the ball for the UEFA European Championship ever since 1984, starting with the Tango Mundial , and also produces the Finale ball for use in the UEFA Champions League. Team and player sponsorships Adidas sponsors and provides kits, gear and accessories to several professional and collegiate teams all over the world, the most notable perhaps being the Cornhuskers of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Football teams with kits manufactured by Adidas =North America
=South America =Europe =Africa
Asia
National = CONCACAF - North America, Central America & the Caribbean = CONMEBOL - South America = UEFA - Europe = CAF - Africa = AFC - Asia Players |
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